Remember together

Local chapter to host fundraiser to assist programs, research

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Sally Carlson remembers her mother, Florence Jackson, as being more like a sister. In fact, her mother, known for her caring side and sense of humor, called her by the nickname Sissy.

The two of them liked to travel together, work in the garden, meet for lunch and spend time with Carlson's three little boys. But when Alzheimer's entered their lives, Carlson watched her mother slowly slip away.

"I felt she was taken away from me 10 years before she actually died," she said. "We had all these plans to do things together and we got robbed of that."

Now Carlson works with the Desert Southwest Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association and is a facilitator for the Summerlin Alzheimer's support group.

The local chapter will host a 1-mile Memory Walk to raise money for programs and research. The event is planned for Nov. 5 at Hills Park, 9000 Hillpointe Road, with registration beginning at 7:30 a.m. There will be entertainment, a continental breakfast and health care-related tents dispensing information. The walk will begin at 9 a.m.

When Alzheimer's sets in, it has an impact on the whole family.

"It had probably been going on well before the diagnosis was made," Carlson said. "I'd notice little things, like she'd forget the phone numbers of people she called regularly."

Her mother also had a hard time getting her fingers to dial the numbers. Then she'd keep asking the same question a minute after she'd asked the first time. Soon after, Jackson's normally immaculate looks began to slip until she wore the same outfit over and over again.

"When you have Alzheimer's, it's easier to keep your clothes on each night than to recall how to unbutton things and take them off," Carlson said. "Then in the morning, you'd have to remember how to put them back on. So that's what Alzheimer's patients do, they sleep in their clothes."

Carlson spent 25 years in health care, much of it working with dementia-related patients and respite care. When her mother couldn't remember what car keys were for, she stopped working and took over the care of her mother, all while trying to raise her children and keep her own home.

Jackson needed someone at the house 24/7 and priority number one, was safety.

"She'd wander off all the time so we had to install bolts on the door high enough she couldn't reach them," Carlson said. "She'd forget and leave the stove burners on or she'd try to make food in the coffee maker. Plus, she smoked so I was afraid of that."

Luckily, family members and, later, two woman volunteered to take shifts and help Carlson care for her mother around the clock.

But eventually, the day came when Jackson could no longer keep her home. Carlson searched for a home for seniors and discovered a new Alzheimer's facility was under construction. She began the paperwork to apply for a spot. The task was doubled as her father-in-law also had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and he needed full-time professional care, too.

"They had a waiting list of more than 100 people and they only had room for 10," she said. "But someone was watching over us."

Jackson and, within a couple weeks, Carlson's father-in-law, were accepted at the new home. Carlson recalled the day she left her mother there.

"I made it seem like we were going there for coffee," she said. "When I got up to go, she said, 'You're leaving me here, aren't you?' It broke my heart."

While the family was grateful to have a home for Jackson, some of the policies -- like no visitors the first two weeks a new patient arrived -- were discouraging.

Dissatisfied with the limited housing options, Carlson and her husband, a contractor, designed and developed the first privately owned group home for 10 residents in her hometown of Virginia, Minn. Named Chestnut Grove Alzheimer's Care, it was built with the intention of housing her mother. But insurance-fraud stop-gap measures meant Carlson could not have any family members living in her facility. She continued visiting her mother daily at the other facility.

Carlson implemented policies geared to fit the often repetitious activities of Chestnut Grove's patients. Furniture, for example, was placed in the center of a room as Alzheimer's patients often like to pace. Coming to a dead end such as a hallway or a couch, meant they could stand there for hours until someone showed them how to turn around. At Chestnut Grove Alzheimer's Care, they could pace around the furniture in circles. One woman liked to sweep constantly. The staff was told to let her sweep to her heart's content. Another woman liked to wash dishes so they set her up at the sink and let her wash all day.

To ensure employees understood the needs specific to Alzheimer's patients, Carlson became certified to teach staff training for dementia units through the Alzheimer's Association Training Program in Minnesota.

Sally Carlson's mother passed away 18 years after being diagnosed. But before she passed, Jackson's memories returned, if only for a few hours.

"That day, she was her old self again," Carlson said. "We carried on a conversation, we laughed, she called me Sissy. I hold onto that memory."

For more information about the Memory Walk, call 248-2770.